Grace and Truth

‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?’ -Luke 13:2

In light of the senseless, hate filled, jihadist motivated, Muslim terrorist, cold-blooded murders of forty-nine people last Sunday morning at the homosexual night club in Orlando, it is very possible that believers may ask a question similarly posed by the social commentators of Jesus’ day. You see, a horrific incident had just occurred in Jerusalem. Pilate had mingled the blood of Galileans with the blood of their sacrifices. John Gill, a Puritan commentator, suggests that this may have been connected with Judas of Galilee (he is referred to as a revolutionary in Acts 5:37), a trouble maker who was seeking to overthrow Roman rule in Israel by urging the Jews not to pay taxes to Caesar. When these Galileans came for the Passover, they were captured, executed, and their blood was mingled with the lambs they had brought for the Passover meal. The question on the minds of the social commentators was, ‘Because of how these Galileans met with such a violent end, is it safe to say that they were worse sinners than the other Galileans?’ To put this in the present modern setting, ‘Is it possible, due to their violent deaths, that those presumed homosexuals murdered in the Pulse homosexual nightclub in Orlando were worse sinners than other people? Did they get what was coming to them?’

How does Jesus answer this question? He says, ‘I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’ He drives the point home further by citing another example where eighteen men were killed in a construction accident. ‘Were they worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish.’

Jesus is telling the social commentators of His day that they are asking the wrong question. Our fleshly, human nature, in our own self-righteousness, likes to speculate about the unfortunate or brutal demise of other people, particularly those whom we know are living contrary to God’s word. Jesus is not letting us ‘go there’. He turns the situation right back on us as a wake up call. He is saying, ‘Don’t speculate about the demise of other people. The issue you should be facing at this very moment is your own mortality. What would have happened to you if you had been in that nightclub, or that school, or that movie theater, or that rock concert? Unless you repent, you will also perish.’

There are at least four ways we should respond to the horror of early Sunday morning in Orlando. First, Islam clearly teaches that homosexuality is a capital offense (Qu’ran 7:80,81, 26:165), and Hadiths (sayings attributed to Muhammed) teach that homosexuals should be killed. ‘When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes. Kill the one that is doing it and also the one that it is being done to.’¹ For all the talk of political correctness and the assurances that Islam is a peaceful religion, it is time for Americans to realize the true nature of Islam. Muslims who believe the Qu’ran want Sharia law to be practiced everywhere and this includes the murder of homosexuals and infidels (those who refuse to covert to Islam). At least one hundred and nine references in the Qu’ran call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.² I am not saying that all Muslims truly practice their religion. If they did, then we would be in even bigger trouble than we are presently. The facts are indisputable, however. Islam teaches the murder of homosexuals and infidels. What is wrong with stating the obvious? Of whom or what are we afraid?

Second, are you ready to meet God? Every time you hear of a friend’s death, or of another terrorist attack, then realize God is doing you a favor. He is giving you a wake up call. Ask yourself, ‘What if I had been in the nightclub or at school when the terrorist arrived on the scene? Am I sure I would go to heaven when my blood had drained from my body?’ Live with eternity in full view. Remember always that your friends, family members, and neighbors without Christ, when they die, whether peacefully in their homes or violently in a terrorist attack, will stand before the One who is absolutely righteous and holy, the One who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

Third, have genuine compassion and engage in acts of kindness and mercy for those families who lost loved ones in the massacre and for those struggling to stay alive after being severely wounded. I am certain that the Christian community of Orlando will step forward and give blood, offer their homes to visiting family members of the wounded or killed, or simply ‘be there’ for those in the homosexual community who are devastated by these horrible events. ‘The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love,’ (1 John 4:8).

And fourth, we must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15, 25). John tells us that the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Jesus had the remarkable ability to love the sinner with incomprehensible acceptance and compassion while at the same time to speak unmitigated truth to him. The Samaritan woman at the well comes immediately to mind (John 4:17,18). The natural tendency, in times of such sorrow and horror, is to take the edge off the word of God in certain areas. Some will allow their sense of compassion and justice to weaken their conviction that homosexuality is a perversion, an abomination before God. Prudence and wisdom are always necessary. ‘Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances,’ (Proverbs 25:11). The moments and days immediately following such tragedy may not be the prudent time to speak to homosexuals about their sin, but at some point we must pick up the mantle again of speaking truth as it is in Jesus. Namely, that neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).